Volume 10: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Changing the World: Part II

INVESTIGATION OF MELTING PROCESS OF NANO-PCM INSIDE METAL FOAM UNDER ULTRASONIC FIELD Wei Cui, Xiangxuan Li, Jian Zhang, Ting Ma, Qiuwang Wang

Abstract

Phase change material (PCM) gradually becomes a promising approach to keep the temperature within a comfortable range in the application of thermal management of electronic devices nowadays. In this work, TiO2 nanoparticles, copper foam and n-octadecane were composited by vacuum method to prepare nanoPCM(nanoparticle-phase change material) and the melting process of nano-PCM under the effects of different nanoparticle concentrations and ultrasonic powers were experimentally investigated. The results showed that the ultrasonic and nanoparticles in the melting process have positive effects on shortening the melting time of nano-PCM. As the ultrasonic power reached 100 W and the nanoparticle concentration reached 5 wt.%, the melting time of nano-PCM was reduced by 46.96%. In addition, the extra heat was found in the melting process brought by the heating effect of ultrasound. Finally, the heat source temperature increased with the increasing of ultrasonic power. Therefore, the relationship between the melting rate of nano-PCM and the heat source temperature needs to be balanced reasonably.

Keywords nano-PCM, melting process, nanoparticle concentrations, ultrasonic power, heat source temperature